Film: The Ascent
Director: Larisa Shepitko
Country: Ukraine
Released: April 1977
Runtime: 111 minutes
Genre: Drama
Studio: Mosfilm
Influenced: Aleksey German, Agnieszka Holland, Andrey Zaytsev, Lucrecia Martel, Andrei Zvyagintsev
Voskhozhdeniye, known in the English-speaking world as The Ascent, is a 1977 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko. Based on a novella by Vasili Bykov, Shepitko's film took its wartime subject matter and added a strong layer of spirituality. Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus during WWII, the film follows the story of two partisans, Sotnikov and Rybak, who are members of a resistance group, and its themes include morality, loyalty and the choices people make in extreme circumstances. Shepitko's cinematic style is widely seen as being influenced by legendary Ukrainian director Dovzhenko, especially her use of emotional close-ups and poetic visuals. Dovzhenko was also an inspiration to Shepitko as a person of strong moral and personal values, as was her husband and fellow director Elem Klimov.
Shepitko sought to create a visually striking and emotionally powerful cinematic experience that would resonate with audiences, showing the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity, through the character of Sotnikov. After a failed sabotage operation, Sotnikov and Rybak become separated from their comrades and seek refuge in a small village. The villagers, mostly collaborators, capture the partisans and subject them to harsh interrogation and torture. As the plot unfolds, the two partisans are faced with the moral dilemma of maintaining their loyalty to their cause or saving their own lives. As well as being a religious film, in the tradition of Dreyer, it's essentially about the psychological and ethical struggles we face, questioning the limits of human endurance and the difficult choices we must make.
The film opens with a failed attempt by the partisans to blow up a German supply train, setting the tone for the challenges and risks faced by the partisans. Sotnikov and Rybak are captured by a group of villagers collaborating with the Nazis, and this encounter leads to intense interrogation scenes and exposes the harsh realities of life under occupation. As Sotnikov faces the prospect of execution, he must make a difficult decision that tests his loyalty to the cause and his desire to survive. The film builds up to a climactic scene on a snowy hill where the characters' fates intertwine. Shepitko's use of striking black & white visuals and cinematography creates a poetic and atmospheric portrayal of the war-torn landscape.
One of the movie's great strengths is the intensity of the performance of the actors, who deliver nuanced and deeply emotional performances, especially Boris Plotnikov in the lead role. At his execution, we see his face shining with religious fervour and also a small child crying at the sight of his death, giving the sense of him being akin to a Christ figure. Shepitko employs rich symbolism – including wooden crosses, candlelight and baptismal imagery – to explore themes of spirituality, sacrifice and redemption. It was thanks to the first secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus, Pyotr Masherov, that the film was released without objection by the censors and in its full director's cut length. The film has one of the most powerful endings of any I've ever seen, timeless in its power. Such was the critical acclaim that it won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin International Film Festival and the film continues to be an inspiration to filmmakers and one of the greatest wartime movies ever made.
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